Why Ross Beaty is exiting clean energy and getting into gold

Ross Beaty, nicknamed the ‘broken-slot’ machine with his knack of consistently making his investors rich, has recently sold Alterra Power and gone into a new gold venture. He has been ranked in Mining Journal’s top 20 of the most influential people in mining over the last 3 years.

Mr Beaty – speaking ahead of his appearance at Mines and Money Asia in Hong Kong this April – said that his decision to sell Alterra Power, a clean energy business that he has been involved in for 9 years, was because Innergyx had made “an offer that we couldn’t refuse”.

“What’s great about the deal is that it allows Innergex to grow Alterra’s assets using Innergex’s lower cost of capital, positions them for accelerated long-term growth and should provide even better returns for shareholders”.

The sale of Alterra Power has coincided with Beaty’s return to the gold mining business. Equinox Gold was formed following a three-for-one deal that saw Trek Mining, Newcastle Gold and Anfield Gold combine. The new entity has two advanced-stage gold projects (Aurizona in Brazil and Castle Mountain in California) and combined resources of more than 8 million ounces of gold.

Mr Beaty has shown how confident he is in Equinox Gold’s (CN:EQX) mid-tier production ambitions by upping his stake in the company to almost 10%.

Whilst Mr Beaty said he was excited about the Aurizona gold deposit, he saw greater long-term potential in the Castle Mountain project. This is “the real kicker” he said. “It’s got a very large surface resource that is open, as well as great high grade deep intercepts. We’re aiming to have it open in a smaller phase 1 operation in 2019 and a much bigger phase 2 operation in the early 2020s.”

When pressed as to why he had been so successful, Mr Beaty shared his three life lessons for being a success in the mining industry.

“Don’t waste time on small deposits, always have a focus, and have fun while you’re doing it!”

As well as updating investors on Equinox Gold, Ross Beaty will also be share his thoughts on how well the industry is addressing the challenges of underinvestment and mis-investment in the mining industry from juniors, mid-tiers and majors at the upcoming Mines and Money Asia conference scheduled to take place in Hong Kong from April 3 – 6.

Now in its eleventh year, Mines and Money Asia is the largest gathering of miners and investors in Asia, with this year’s event expecting to see over 150 mining companies in attendance along with over 600 investors.